AvocadoAvenger's Ruleset
Introduction Lords of Creation is a message board game played here, on Giant in the Playground forums. The premise off the game is that every player assumes the role of a god, and helps form a common universe with other players. Deities use a set of rules called "The AP system" which will be explained in depth later on. Through this system, deities can create new life, new worlds, items of supreme divine power, and even grow as a god. You should also note that the purpose of this game is whatever players want to get out of it. It should not, however, be thought of as a game to "win"- the idea is to create new worlds and mortal heroes that interact with other players. Lords of Creation Rules Ground Rules Lords of creation is a free-form game by it's very nature. Even so, we like to maintain a set of rules along with our systems to use as guidelines to ensure that play is as enjoyable as it can be for all players. Posting Quota Spoiler'HideThis game, like other Lords of Creation games, requires that you post at least once every three weeks; however, it is highly advisable that you post much more often than that. If you who fails to post once in three weeks, your deity if considered deceased. But don't fear! You may rejoin the game with the same deity if you choose to. Alternatively, if you simply wish to reenter the game with a new deity you may do that as well. However, you should not do this too many times, and try to make a god that you think you will be willing to play for an extensive period of time. If you simply wish to quit our game, you need not wait three weeks to do so.Firstworld Sanctum '''Spoiler'HideThe game begins with The Creator, a mystical being who little is known about, spawning the original gods from himself and creating The Material Plane. On the material plane, he creates a world and immediately sanctifies it. This action sets the rules of the First World as normal, with the exception that no deity of rank lesser or more may as much as set foot on the First World. The Firstworld begins as all water, and requires that players use the create land AP action to create land on the world.Advice 'Spoiler'HideLike on any other game on the playground, you should respect your fellow players. A lot of times, in the heat of roleplay, we draw a line between advancing the game and thinking about the other players. It is that reason why I would like to just officially say that players should not play other's characters for them, do anything that would stop another player from playing the game the way that they want, and that communication is key. New players, it is easy to make a god who creates a proverbial and often literal "island" of stuff, and expects the other gods to come and interact with them. This will probably not produce an interesting and fun game experience for you or anyone else, however interesting your island might be. Branch out! Do a god who challenges, engages, and interacts with other players through both divinity and societies. There is a balance between branching out and interfering, and finding that balance can be very beneficial. If a player does something that would interfere with another, then the mods have every right to veto that action. Additionally, I would discourage any god who by definition is made to combat every god in existence. I encourage a fluff-heavy style of play, and am known to say things like "fluff over crunch". I encourage you to play off of what other players do and not against them. Everyone likes a certain quote from Mystic about curse wars because it is a good one: 'Spoiler'Hide I think the problem is that people treat curse wars like this: 1 AP: Make super healing plants. 2 AP: Kill all super healing plants. 3 AP: Recreate super healing plants. 4 AP: Kill all super healing plants. 5 AP: Recreate super healing plants. When it should be treated like this: 1 AP: Make super healing plants. 2 AP: Super healing plants are struck with a disease like real world plants and large cluster of them die because of lack of genetic diversity, now they only exists but far spread out, rarer and never in large clumps. 3 AP: Super healing plants emit an aura that make them easy to find. 4 AP: Plant poisonous plants around the world that emit the same aura, look the same and kill instantly, so a person looking for these plants will have to journey towards them but will never know if they will die or survive at the end of the journey. 5 AP: Create spirit guides that aren't an actual species but a manifestation of that super healing plant's benevolence, and like the will o' wisps in "Brave" they lead people away from the poisonous plants. And remember that if you are unsure of anything, checking with a mod should clear it up. Above all else, have fun with the game! Rules are meant to be broken, except of course when they aren't. '''AP System Rollover When a new player begins the game, their deity automatically starts with maximum (15) AP. After this, AP is accumulated at rollover. Rollover is an event that occurs once a week, every week, on Saturday at 12:00 noon EST (That'd be 5:00 GMT) in which every deity and legend gains AP. The amount gained is based on rank and shown on the table below, so long as the total does not exceed the maximum amount for your rank. AP Actions Spoiler'''HideBless/Curse - '''1 AP: A bless brings a beneficial effect into being and a curse brings a harmful effect into being. A bless/curse can be almost anything imaginable, from something as simple as a good or bad harvest, or civil harmony or disharmony, to something as incredible as turning armies to stone, or raising the dead. The only limits of you blesses and curses are your imagination. It is advised, however, that if a curse messes too much with someone else's stuff, that you ask them first, and if a curse has the potential to change the game, you ask about it OOC. Most things are generally ok. A bless/curse takes only 1 AP to create, but 2 AP to counter, and 3 AP to bring back into being after that; and so on with values increasing at increments of one. Form Society - 2 AP: A society (or organization if you would rather) is the most basic to most advanced government structures. If no form society action is used, a race will revert to hunter-gatherers, scattered and disorganized. This action is not used to create notable sub-organizations within a society. Use the create order/guild action for that. Create Order - 1 AP: Use this action to create a distinct order or guild. Orders and guilds generally exist within a society and sometimes promote their own agendas. An order can be something like a mage's association, a secret order of knights, a trade organization, or a special police force. Create Basic/Bestial Life - 1 AP: Use this action to create organisms without very strong mental capacities. Common plants and animals are assumed to exist already, but players may create them specifically if they wish to. You can also, of course, use this action to create monstrous or uncommon creatures so long as they are not able to think for themselves. Create Sentient Life - 2 AP: Sentient creatures are creatures who are able to think for themselves, and able to develop a culture. Sentient life is usually humanoid, but there are no rules against other sentient creatures. Humans exist at the beginning of the game and players need not create them. A player can only make one sentient or fabled race per domain. Create Fabled Life - 5 AP: Fabled life is reserved for creatures with vastly superior abilities. dragons, angels, demons, and most interpretations of vampires fall under this category. In order to be considered fabled life, a creature must have a legitimate supernatural ability; if it isn't fabled life, it isn't fabled life. A player can only birth one sentient or fables race per domain. Create Artifact - 4 AP: Artifacts (or relic or monument if you would prefer) is an item of great power that generally grants some sort of ability to it's wielder. The nature of this item is up to the person creating it. Artifacts can be tools for just gods, just mortals, gods and mortals, or they can simply be an object that interacts with the environment around it. A legendary sword, an incarnation of your deity's holy symbol, a magic throne for gods and mortals, and a glowing box in the middle of a volcano that controls when the volcano erupts are all good examples of artifacts. Players may not make an artifact/relic that alters their AP intake, AP spending costs, or the potency of their spent AP. Divine Infusion - 3 AP: A divine infusion is when a god merges part of their essence into something. This is a tool for RCR as well as spreading the religion of you god. An infused person gets a plus to RCR (see below), but is also assumed to be a spiritual leader in the faith of your god. Using a divine infusion on land will likewise give you or your chosen followers a bonus on said land, but will also essentially make that designated area a temple to your deity. There is no limit on what you can or can not use a divine infusion on, but you can only have a certain number of divine infusions depending on your divine status (see table). Create Land - 2 AP: Just as it sounds, you may use this action to create land on an existing world or plane. On the material plane, this action will cause islands to rise from the ocean, and the land that you create can consist of whatever terrain that you specify. Form Astronomical Object - 3 AP: Use this action to create a celestial body such as a moon, planet, asteroid, or sun. Worlds created in this manner are unlike the material plane in that the normal rules that apply on the material plane do not necessarily apply here. You may use the sanctify world action to change only the worlds that you create. Weave Plane- 4 AP: Use this action to create another plane of existence. The plane can be as similar to or as different from the material plane as the creating god chooses. Although planes can be morphic in nature, a plane has no hard and fast rules without the sanctify world action. Players are advised that the Create Plane actions is not designed to give them an impregnable fortress of power, but to create a realm of otherworldly wonder and a home of divinity. In this game, planes do not exist in space; use form celestial object for that. Sanctify World - 5 AP: Use this action on a world of your deity's creation to create a set of rules for that world. Sanctify world is intended to ban certain concepts and/or certain levels of divinity from a world. Once sanctify world is used, a player may not change the nature of their world later. This action is designed to give players the option to create specific settings like a steampunk world, a world with no magic, a world where only some levels of gods are able to enter, or a world resembling the first world of the material plane. Note that "world" is used to refer to both a celestial body and a plane. Set Portal - 1 AP: A portal is a permanent connection between two places. Deities and magic can create temporary portals, but you can use this action to create a permanent one. Alternatively, use this action to create a hotspot for mana of a different world. For example, you could create permanent strong magical connections between the dungeons of a castle and your world of death, leaving deposits of negative energy. Promote Leader - 3 AP: A leader is someone who is responsible for leading his people or organization, and the first step in the ranks of heroic mortals. A leader is generally thought of as a civil diplomat who does not see a lot of action, while the next step, the hero, is someone who is a skilled combatant. If the AP is spent to make someone a hero, they may or may not be assumed to be a leader as well. Raise Hero - 5 AP: A hero is the second step in the ranks of heroic mortals. A leader is generally thought of as a civil diplomat who does not see a lot of action, while the hero, is someone who is a skilled combatant. If the AP is spent to make someone a hero, they may or may not be assumed to be a leader as well. A leader can be promoted to a hero for 2 AP. A hero may aid one god in a conflict between two deities, but may not initiate one. Beget Seeker - 7 AP: A seeker is a hero of the highest order, thought of as being capable of extensive questing without the guidance of a deity. A hero may be raised to seeker for 2 AP, and a leader may be raised to seeker for 4 AP. Unlike the previous two ranks of the heroic mortals, a seeker may actually challenge a god to combat. Create Legend - 12 AP: A legend is capable of everything that the previous ranks of heroic mortals are capable of, plus a legend accumulates 1 AP every rollover, to a maximum of 4 AP. A mortal must have had status as a hero or a seeker for at least a week before they are eligible to be promoted to a legend for the difference in AP, and must have had at least three posts featuring them as a major character. One does not simply become a legend. As with previous levels, you need only spend the difference in AP from the last level to create a legend. Create Pantheon - 2+ AP: A pantheon is a group of gods whose followers acknowledge the godhood of the other members for the mutual benefit of the gods. Because they spent the extra AP to create the pantheon, the god who created the pantheon has admin rights, and may ban other gods from the pantheon. A god may only be a member of one pantheon at a time. Each member of the Pantheon gains 1 AP per three members, which can be used for anything and combined with normal AP, but doesn't count towards Gain domain actions. If the pantheon drops below three members, this AP ceases to function. This AP is gained normally at rollover, but does not rollover itself (the amount gained every week is considered to be the maximum amount). The leader of the pantheon must spend a one-time extra point of AP each time the pantheon grows three members to a new level of AP intake. A pantheon may stand for or not stand for anything. Being a part of a pantheon may contain an unspoken (or spoken) pact to act and fight together. Members of a pantheon are may be strictly in it for the extra one AP per rollover. A legend may be a member of a pantheon for the fighting benefits, but does not gain the AP benefits. Join Pantheon - 1 AP: Joining an alliance or a pantheon has it's own set of benefits. Both cost 1 AP. See rules for Alliances and Pantheons above. Create Mundane Concept - 1 AP: Use this action to flesh out the little advances in society. Blacksmithing, literature, messenger birds, and architecture advances are all good examples of mundane concepts. A concept may be implemented on however large a scale as the player would like- from just in one specific society to worldwide. Create Advanced Concept - 2 AP: Advanced concepts are technological marvels that do not revolutionize the way a society works, but do advance that society a good amount. Military technology, alchemy, and herbalism are all good examples of advanced concepts. A concept may be implemented on however large a scale as the player would like- from just in one specific society to worldwide. Create Fabled Concept - 4 AP: A fabled concept is a concept that is meant to revolutionize the world. Things like magic, afterlife systems, and technological revolutions are all things that you would use a fabled concept to create. A concept may be implemented on however large a scale as the player would like- from just in one specific society to worldwide. Alter Action - 1 AP: Use this action to go back and alter something that you or another player has already used AP to create. Common uses of this include land, concepts, and life, but it can be used inventively on things like bless/curses and artifacts. Once something is altered, it can be undone for 2 AP, and 3 AP to bring back into being after that; and so on with values increasing at increments of one. Players are encouraged to use alterations on actions instead of undoing them outright. Gain Domain - 3 AP: The Gain Domain action allows a god to gain an additional domain and an accompanying portfolio element. The god must first have spent 7AP worth of AP on things related to the domain they wish to gain. The Gain Domain action may never be used to qualify for a domain, but any other action can be. Also, pantheon AP does not count for the purpose of gaining a domain. Random Conflict Resolution Spoiler'''HideRCR (or "random conflict resolution) is a direct clash between two gods or people. Players may want to first negotiate any issues that arise before deciding that they want to resort to random conflict resolution. That being said, some people find RCR to be a fun way of resolving conflicts and playing the game, and using RCR is not discouraged. The winner of a conflict is thought to have won whatever was at stake in the conflict before the dice were rolled. These stakes (that must have been talked about beforehand) may include things like imprisoning another god, a territorial dispute if the conflict was between societies, or leadership of a pantheon if the challenge was made. There are three basic types of conflicts: deity vs deity, society versus society, and deity vs mortals. Every divine rank has a number of d6s that they get to roll in RCR. This roll gets a number of bonuses based on other factors. Fighting alongside a hero grants a +2 bonus and fighting alongside a seeker grants a +3 bonus. Any infusion is worth an additional +2 bonus. If fighting alongside another god, gods may add the sum of their rolls. For RCR purposes, a legend is treated as a fledgling deity and has a 1d6 roll in combat. If gods are in a pantheon and fighting for the same side, they add one to their roll for every d6 they are rolling (for example +3 if I am rolling 3d6). For example, if the god of rebellious teenagers is fighting the god of strict teachers, but the teacher god has brought a co-teacher and the principle to the fight. The co-teacher is a hero and the school principle is a legend, and the principle and the teacher are in an alliance. So in this combat, the strict teacher god rolls 2d6+2+2+1d6+1 vs the rebellious teenager's 2d6, assuming both are lesser gods. When societies clash, each society rolls 1d10. If in a war, two societies decide to team up, then they may add their rolls. An order is rolls 1d8 when they decide to get involved in a war, and that can be added to the society roll when an order takes a side in a war between societies. Likewise to clashing gods, a hero is worth +2, Seeker is +3, and an infusion is worth +2. When with a society or order, but not with a god is a leader worth +1. For example, Myr, Tyrosh, and Lys, three societies decide to go to war over the disputed lands. Tyrosh and Lys decide to team up against Myr, but Myr has hired an order called the second sons, a mercenary company, and their order of priests decide to get involved in the war. Additionally, a Hero named Oberyn Martell is fighting with the second sons, and they have a leader named Ben Plumm. Myr gets 1d10+2d8+3 and Lys and Tyrosh get 2d10. Also, being fabled life grants a society +1 and being more advanced than the other society grants a +2. Gods are advised to take action to mortals through AP, but sometimes a battle against mortals is unavoidable. When this happens, the same combat modifiers above are used, and the outcome is, similarly, whatever was at stake. Heroic mortals, societies, orders, and deities generally function the same way when it comes to RCR. '''Divine Rank Spoiler'''HideA deity may only ascend once per week. They may not use this ascension if they have promoted a legend. There is no maximum to the number of domains a deity may gain weekly, but remember that a domain needs seven independent AP to be spent on it before it can be taken. '''Character Creation When creating your deity, you must have a progenitor unless you are one of the original few that stem from a being known as The Creator. A progenitor, put simply, is a god that your god originates from. A "parent god" if you will. This gives you an easy ally (or not), and someone to interact with from the start. Players are usually very eager to birth a new god, and some even find it fun to think of new and exciting ways to birth gods. All gods begin as fledgling, and begin with max AP. Use the following character creation form in your post to submit a god: Code: Name: Name, optional epithet Played By: Your username Alignment: Standard Dungeons and Dragons later editions alignment Domains: Domains (Portfolio), Domain (Portfolio) Description: A physical description of your god as well as any other information like holy symbol, alternate forms, ect. Goals: What you hope to do/accomplish with your god (mainly optional) Picture: (completely optional) After you submit your profile, it must be approved by at least two mods before you can enter the game. Domains and Portfolios 'Spoiler'HideThere tends to always be a bit of confusion about domains vs portfolios, so I am going to address that. On your deity, they should be phrased Domain (Portfolio). Domains and portfolios represent elements that your deity governs; what you are the god of. They should generally be one or two words, and clear aspects. The difference between domain and portfolio is that domain is broader. You are god of everything within a domain, but partial to the part inside your portfolio. For example, a god with Water (Oceans) has powers that extend to all water, but especially so in oceans. The main reason we do this is for flavor. No two gods may have the same portfolio, but two gods may have the same domain. You may use the portfolios from dead gods.